Jennifer Lopez's production company worked on South Beach

Jack Bunick alleges that South Beach, a programme on which Lopez is executive producer, is the same as South Beach Miami, a script he wrote in 1999.

Mr Bunick also claims he pitched the idea to South Beach's broadcaster UPN but was never contacted.

He has applied for an injunction barring further transmission of the series, which the network cancelled.

'Beautiful people'

The legal action, filed in New York, says Mr Bunick's script was about a man who moved from Brooklyn to Miami, where he became involved in the modelling and nightclub scene.

South Beach is about two young men from Brooklyn who "abandon their world as they know it and head to the alluring paradise of sandy beaches, beautiful people and hot spots in glamorous Miami's South Beach," according to UPN's website.

The case also names US TV network CBS and Viacom as well as Lopez's production company Nuyorican.

UPN is a division of CBS and both were owned by Viacom until it split into two companies last year.

Other programmes which are aired on UPN include Veronica Mars and Everybody Hates Chris.